It’s the start of the top for “The Crown.”
The penultimate season of the Netflix series dropped a two-minute trailer on Thursday, and it’s stuffed with royal family drama.
“In light of the events of the last 12 months,” Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth narrates over a fireplace within the opening scene, “perhaps I even have more to reflect on than most.”
The Season 5 teaser shows a royal war brewing between members of her family, including Dominic West as Prince Charles, Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana, Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip and Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret.
“The royal family is in real crisis,” one other voice noted. “The royals’ scandals have damaged the country’s repute.”
The teaser featured shots of an older-looking Elizabeth, Philip, Diana, Charles and Prime Minister John Major (played by Jonny Lee Miller).
Charles and Diana’s fractured marriage is seen, as they meet with Elizabeth to debate their impending divorce.
One other scene shows Debicki rocking Diana’s famous black “revenge dress” — the garment the late Princess of Wales wore following news that Charles admitted to adultery together with his now-wife and Queen Consort, Camilla Parker Bowles.
“For years, I’ve called for a contemporary monarchy that reflects the world outside,” Charles says within the teaser.
“People won’t ever understand the way it has really been for me,” Diana laments. “I never stood a likelihood.” A lone shot of Diana’s sapphire and diamond engagement ring is seen off of her slim finger.
“The one condition, the one rule, is that you simply remain loyal to this family,” Prince Philip scolds Diana during a gathering.
“To be silent?” she replies, her voice cracking.
To which the Duke of Edinburgh responds bluntly: “Yes.”
“For higher or for worse, we’re all stuck in here,” he points out.
The flashes of the paparazzi also beef up the teaser — referencing the constant chaos of the family and their continuous appearances within the media.
Other scenes include Diana’s “Panorama” interview with Martin Bashir in 1995, and Charles and Camilla sharing a kiss underneath an array of fireworks.
The fifth installment of the streaming series will chronicle the trials and tribulations of the royal family throughout the early to mid-Nineties, highlighting 1992, the 12 months that Queen Elizabeth famously said was her “annus horribilis.”
The monarch’s “horrible 12 months” saw a fireplace at Windsor Castle, in addition to the breakdown of three out of her 4 children’s marriages, including Princess Anne, Charles and Prince Andrew.
Season 6 will round out the series, set to air next 12 months. That season will take the Firm into the twenty first century and can even show glimpses of a young Prince Harry, Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Season 5 of “The Crown” will drop Nov. 5.